Chapter Ten
W hen my phone rang with a familiar Irish number, I stifled a grin.
The old man. Of course, he’d already found out.
My men were loyal to me but many of them were also loyal to my father.
One of them had obviously taken it upon himself to inform my father of the upcoming nuptials.
There was hardly another reason why he’d call, especially not given the timing.
“Father,” I said. “The manor must be burning for you to call.”
“I’d call the fire brigade if the manor was burning, or Balor. He didn’t leave the country,” he rumbled.
Balor wasn’t the only one who hadn’t left, but it was pointless to mention this fact to my father. His oldest son, his successor, had always been and would always be my father’s greatest pride.
I didn’t point out that someone needed to lead the business over here, that it was the very reason I was here. I doubted Dad missed me very often, if at all, so living across the big pond shouldn’t have soured his mood.
“For years, I presented women to you, all of them Irish, beautiful and with an excellent pedigree, but now I hear you got engaged without even consulting with me about your future bride.”
The heavy note of disappointment in his voice wasn’t news and it hardly left an impact on me anymore. The days in which I’d thirsted for my father’s approval were long gone.
“I’ll have to share a bed and my life with this woman, so you should be happy I found someone at all.”
“I’m more concerned about the reason for your choice,” he drawled. Happiness wasn’t in Dad’s standard repertoire anyway, not anymore. “The name Killeen leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Are you sure you can control the girl?”
“I have absolutely no doubt.”
“That’s what my brother thought with the mother and look where it got him. Killeen and Devaney … it’s bad blood I can tell you.”
“Dad, please don’t start with your superstitions. You know I don’t believe in this—”
Nonsense.
My father and I have had many disagreements over the years but I wouldn’t disrespect him.
“Regardless of my stance on a marriage with a Killeen, what is this nonsense I hear about marrying her within a fortnight? And in America no less!”
“Considering how flighty Killeens tend to be, I prefer an earlier wedding, Dad. I’m sure you understand.”
“What I understand is that you’re still acting like a boisterous teenager despite your age.
Some decisions should not be rushed, and weddings are one of them.
If your mother were still alive—” The heavy note of sadness in Dad’s voice triggered my own but I shoved it down.
Mum had been dead for five years. There had been time for mourning and sadness but that had passed.
“But she’s not,” I said quietly.
“She’s not,” Dad agreed and a thick silence fell between us. After a couple of minutes, Dad cleared his throat. “You’ll have to celebrate your wedding again in Ireland, on our estate as all Devaneys in history have done. It’s tradition and you won’t be the first to break with it.”
“I won’t, Dad,” I muttered. He always managed to make me feel like a five-year-old. “But it’ll take many months of planning. I don’t have that time. How about you ask one of my cousins or aunts to get the ball rollin’? They can pick a date next summer.”
“You sure the girl will still be your wife by then? ”
“If she’s not, then we haven’t wasted money on a big wedding.”
I could imagine Dad’s pinched look. “Not good to joke about the sacred bond of marriage like that, Son. Not good at all. Go to Gulliver and see what you can do for atonement.”
“Dad, badmouthing marriage is the least of my worries when I sit in confession.”
“You don’t know how God weighs your sins.”
“I’m pretty sure he weighs killing more heavily than badmouthing marriage.”
“Still an impertinent boy.”
“Till my last day, Dad. Till my last day.”
“Till mine, till mine.”
He hung up and I chuckled.
Now it was time to tell the lucky bride about our wedding date. Aislinn was a clever girl so maybe she suspected that I wouldn’t want to wait several months to tie the knot, but I was fairly sure she didn’t expect to be married to me within two weeks.
I picked up the phone and called her. When she hadn’t picked up after the sixth ring, I began to worry she had already done what Killeens do and she ran away.
Maybe my veiled threat today hadn’t done the trick.
Would she really make me chase her? Because I would.
Aislinn would become my wife even if I had to drag her to the altar.
“You’re already being clingy,” Aislinn answered the call after the eighth ring.
I grinned. Cheeky woman. It was going to be fun to show her who was boss.
“Is there a reason why you’re calling so late or do you just want to make sure I didn’t run away?”
“I know you won’t run. You’re too clever for such recklessness.”
She didn’t say anything. “What do you want, Lorcan? I need to call my mother to tell her the good news.”
She was way snarkier on the phone than in person. Maybe it was easier to forget who I was over the phone. Maybe I should scare her a little more during our next meeting, just to make sure she wouldn’t become a runaway bride.
“I want to inform you about our wedding. I thought you might want to know so you can speed up your wedding dress shopping and whatever else women do before they marry.”
“Can’t this wait? It’s not like we’re getting married tomorrow.” There was a pause. “Right?” The hint of anxiety in her voice made me smirk.
“Even with my contacts it takes two weeks to organize a decent wedding party around here.”
Aislinn let out a nervous laugh. “Two weeks? You’re kidding right?”
“Not at all, sweet Aislinn.”
She blew out a disbelieving breath. “You can’t wait to stake your claim, can you?”
“Oh, I’ll stake my claim, don’t worry. I’ll stake it over and over and over again.
With my fingers and my tongue and my cock.
Your mouth, your pussy, they’ll soon be mine, sweet Aislinn.
Tonight, I want you to finger yourself like you did last night.
I want you to remember how my hands felt on you, how your clit swelled up with need, how it pulsated as my fingers gave it what it needed. ”
She hung up, but she couldn’t hide her exhilarated breathing. I leaned back, remembering how her nimble fingers worked her pussy and imagined how she was doing the same now. Damn, I couldn’t wait to claim her.
I breathed heavily as my fingers clutched the phone. When Lorcan called, I’d finally gathered the courage to tell Mum, but now I was too agitated and to my mortification, too horny to call her.
Lorcan’s dirty words had flipped a switch and now my body felt hot and needy. It scared me that he had this kind of power over me, especially because his power would only grow once we were married. He wanted to play me like a puppet, and apparently my body was ready to be put on strings.
I took a cold shower despite Gulliver’s disapproving shout that two showers a day were a luxury he couldn’t afford. If he knew why I was trying to cool down, he’d wholeheartedly support my decision.
It was late that night, long after midnight, when I picked up the phone to call my mother.
I’d used my last money to buy a calling card so I could call overseas to tell my mother the news before Gulliver did.
I refused to use the money Lorcan had given me in Sodom, though I wasn’t even sure why anymore.
Even if my uncle and mother weren’t on speaking terms, I had a feeling she might call him to make sure I was alright, and Gulliver probably wouldn’t hold back the monumental news.
When I finished telling Mum about my wedding to Lorcan Devaney, leaving out the detailed reasons for my agreement, silence reigned on the other end. “Aislinn, you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. Don’t ruin your life because Imogen ruined hers. I can’t lose you both, please.”
“This isn’t only on Imogen,” I said then cringed because I didn’t want to make Mum feel bad.
“They blackmailed you because I ran. I should have known. It’s not like the Devaneys to let something drop.
I always wondered why they never made me pay in a physical way.
It seemed almost too kind of them to only want money.
Now I know why. But, Aislinn, please don’t do this only because of me.
I can hide. I know how these mobsters think. ”
“Mum, how will you go into hiding with Finn? He needs medical treatment, and you need money. The Devaney clan will catch you in no time, and then we’ll have to suffer even more. I can handle this. Let me find Imogen and then we can decide what to do. I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”
“Aislinn,” Mum said quietly. “Don’t ruin your life.”
“I can handle it,” I said firmly, and by it I meant Lorcan.
Maybe he was a sadistic sociopath—and that was very likely given what I’d seen today, but he apparently had some interest in me.
That might give me an advantage in the beginning.
I just had to make sure to find Imogen before Lorcan lost interest in me.
The next morning Gulliver announced that Lorcan and I would have a preliminary conversation with him in church that afternoon.
I knew these conversations were meant to implore the importance of marriage and the mutual responsibilities of the couple, which was completely unnecessary in our case.
Our marriage wasn’t based on any moral reasons and my uncle knew that.
Forcing me to endure a conversation like that was unnecessary, but maybe Lorcan was behind that too.
He obviously enjoyed torturing me, even before I was officially his wife.
“Lorcan asked me to tell you that he thinks you should buy a couple of dresses, especially for church.”